Journal 1 - The Journey Begins / Back to Moscow

Journal 1 - The Journey Begins / Back to Moscow

8-26-10 / 8-27-10

This is going to be a combined journal, simply because the day changes from when you get on the plane in the US, to when you land in Moscow. Essentially, we leave in the early evening from DC, and land in the mid-morning in Moscow.

8-26-10 - Gone to the Dogs… / I got an Upgrade!!! … Hey, wait a minute…

Today marks the last day I'll see the US until at least mid-May. I intend to stay in Russia, for dance, and language purposes, until my time in the ACTR program is over. There are also financial reasons for my staying -- namely, as an Academic Year student, I don't get a plane ticket home in the middle of the year! Which means, even if I wanted to go home, I'd have to pay for it out of pocket. Or I can just have a month off, kicking it in Moscow, between the end of December and January. I may take a vacation of sorts, but it will be around this side of the globe if I do.

I got off to the airport just fine, and after I said goodbye to Papa, I bustled off to go find the proper check in line. Coincidentally enough, the people who joined the line right after I did were Russians! We wound up speaking some -- which is always fun. Better still, was when another pair of Russians, completely lost, and accompanied by a frazzled, non-Russian-speaking airline employee showed up. Between the Russian couple I'd been speaking with, and myself, we got them directed to where they needed to be (i.e. the same place we were headed) -- much to the relief of the airline employee.

As I was sitting at the gate, I took advantage of a clear ticket counter, and went to go check in, where I learned that being nice pays! My seat got moved up, from almost the very back row of the plane, to the front-middle!! (…Although, this was to turn out to be not such a great thing, as I would find out later….)

If any of you remember my first airplane posting, where I talked about how international travel never goes smoothly for me -- I probably should have realized, with nothing having gone wrong up to that point, *something* was bound to happen.

Today, we got all the way to the *runway* -- and then had to turn around and go back to the gate!!!!

It seems that what had happened is that they discovered there were dogs being transported, that had been stowed next to some kind of chemical, that might have killed them. Or something to that effect -- so they had to move luggage around.

Then, we were ready to go again…. … And then they stopped us again! Seems they had to load more cargo on…

In the end, we were sitting on the plane for just over two hours. Whoo. I've never turned my phone on and off so much on a plane!

Thankfully, we made up one of those hours in the air.

*****

Now, I mentioned earlier, that my seat had been moved up more than halfway in the plane AND it was a window seat -- which would generally be quite a score! What I *wasn't* told when my seat was moved, is that I had been moved to an Exit Row. … I began to smell a rat, and wondered if it was less the counter agent being kind to me, and more a case of, "No one wants to sit here -- and here is someone on her own, whom I can put there!"

Generally, one can take comfort from an exit row that at least there is more leg room -- but that wasn't the case for this seat!! There wasn't much leg room, it was FREEZING in my seat area, my monitor was stuck, and of course, because it was an Exit Row, the seat is offset from the Window, so that one cannot even look out the window comfortably!!!

At least my seat reclined… (Which is unusual for an Exit Row seat, in my experience.)

*****

Still, not all was terrible. To lighten up all the less than pleasant things that had happened, Someone put a Rainbow in the sky for me to see, just before we landed!! I hadn't seen a rainbow in ages! It was such a beautiful welcome back to Russia!

*********

8-27-10 - Taxi Tricks - A Promise Kept

The first thing I noticed, as we were landing, was that all the smoke was GONE! The weather looked beautiful outside -- and as I would find out when I stepped outside, it had cooled WAY down! Essentially, if the Moscow I had left in such a rush was Hell, this Moscow was certainly Heaven. As much as Moscow could be called Heaven, anyway...

I de-planed and got through customs just fine; although getting my luggage caused my heart to skip a few beats! There was a period where some luggage had come out, and then it just stopped coming! I've never had to wait so long for my luggage, and I started wondering if somehow, even on a direct flight, it had gotten lost! Luckily for me, it did show up. While I was waiting, I saw a few military-esque bags, and wondered who was showing up to the Embassy now. I actually spoke with a family that was moving in that day -- and after I made sure they didn't need help with anything, I set off to go find the train into the city.

I finally found the train, bought my ticket, and boarded not 5 minutes before the train left! The ride in was EASY, and I know I nodded off just a little bit. The fun started when I left the train, and headed towards the Metro station. I had already planned that I would take a Taxi, because I didn't want to haul three bags through the Metro. More than that, I knew I'd have to haul three bags up many stairs, if I took the Metro all the way home. The problem with Taxis in Moscow is that they can be *ridiculously* over priced.

Where I was was around the 6 o'clock position of the Circle Line of the Moscow Metro. Where I needed to go was a little to the left of the 9 o'clock position. The first taxi man who approached me, I asked him how much it would be to get there. He said, "1200 Rubles," and tried to make it sound like a deal. For those who don't know the Ruble to Dollar conversion, he wanted $36 dollars, for a 15 minute-or so car ride. I told him I wanted it for 500 rubles (About $15) - and he looked at me as though I were crazy. So I walked past him. Another man who had heard this exchange approached me, and said, "600 rubles." I said, "500." He flat-out refused, I tried, "550," and he said, "Let's not argue over 50 rubles - 600;" at which point, I shrugged -- feeling that already arguing down by half was enough of a win for 11 AM in Moscow, after 19 days out of the city -- and I agreed to go with him. I probably still overpaid!

Also, before anyone flips out that I basically Gypsy-Cabbed it home, I think there was at least some kind of official-ness with the taxi I took; but more than that, I copied down all the license plate information, sent it to Mulzoff, and told him, "I'm getting in a cab to go home -- I will call you when I get there. If I don't call you in about 20 or 30 minutes there is a problem."

*****

I made it home just fine, and while I got my stuff inside, I didn't really unpack much, because I knew I'd be moving in the next few days. Not something I was looking forward to -- as far as the, "Packing all your stuff up," goes.

I spent some time relaxing, and tried to get a hold of Vitaly. As my luck would have it, just as he was out of town when I first came back in the summer, he was out of town again!! He is set to return on the 31st; but then will leave on the 2nd for LA! He'll have to say hello to the US for me. Ha ha.

This just means that for the next few days, I can practice, and I'll have time to work on my journals!! It also means I'll have time to see Mulzoff! We've planned to get together tomorrow, and I can't wait!!

Quick Funny: my host mum's friend Olga stopped by the place, and she walked into my room -- she was so surprised to see me! She didn't even realize that I had come in!!! (I think my family was out for the afternoon, and she had come by to check on something for them, is what had happened, and she didn't know I was supposed to come back that day.)

*****

(Some Hours Later)

So, I slept through the time when I should have gone for practice… This is because I'd spent the afternoon trying to find my new, Fox belt buckles and I was tuckered out after that!

I *did,* however, get to Liga Pap to give Pete his Beef Jerkey! He said he was going to eat it all tonight!!!! I laughed so hard! I also teased him *I* had come through for him, after our Boys had disappointed him so many times! [They had been promising for weeks to bring him Beef Jerkey, and they hadn't.] Also, our friend Kiril was there! I hadn't seen him in ages, so it was good to catch up.

Pete and I agreed that we'd head out to Dunkin' Donuts (DD) on Monday (the 30th), so I'm also really looking forward to that!

I came home, hopped online, and was chatting with friends. I was so excited, I got to talk with my buddy Lissay, and even better (Although I do love you, Lissay!) -- I got to talk with Mi Mi!!! (My best friend back home, with whom I hadn't had the chance to speak with in WEEKS. I was really missing her!)

As far as plans for tomorrow go, I'll hopefully be checking out the new bar, where my friends had tried to get me a connection. We'll see if it happens or not -- I already have my plans to see Mulzoff, and promised I'd go back to Liga, too.

Now, it's bedtime!!! It's 4 AM!